EYEWITNESS: Richard Osley's view on Arsenal 5 Porto 0
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: ARSENAL 5 PORTO 0 (Arsenal win 6-2 on aggregate)
EYEWITNESS report from THE EMIRATES STADIUM
by RICHARD OSLEY
YOU have to wonder how far Arsenal would get each year in the Champions League were there no other English teams in the tournament. Against the best of the rest, they can be mesmerising. As long as the opponents don't come from these shores, the Gunners are exhilirating.
Think that magic night at Real Madrid and those beatings of Inter and Milan in the San Siro. Porto were the latest to bounce out of the Champions League at the hands of the Gunners machine, beaten here 5-0. It was a scoreline that would have had the other teams who make it into the quarter finals - Europe‘s elite eight - gulping at what they've seen.
All except that is apart from Manchester United and Chelsea, who may still be waiting for the Arsenal in the next stage and seem to have no problem when playing the Gunners: they've both beaten Arsene Wenger's team twice this season and both have been responsible for wrecking his Champions League hopes in recent seasons. Arsenal might have better luck playing Barcelona.
It’s a worry for another night. This evening, Wenger should forget about how he might outsmart Fergie and Ancelotti for now and savour his team being the headline act in Europe's most prestigious football competition. Arsenal have kept themselves in the running for the two competitions which they really care about. Never mind your FA Cup (there have been some excitable squeals about that from the other end of the W3 bus route), Arsenal have earned themselves a fighting chance in the Premiership and a fighting chance in the Champions League. The fans can’t complain at that. This time last year, everything was disintegrating. Yet, tonight, the Gunners sparkled like champagne. Drink it up Arsenal fans, the team just smashed a Champions League knockout by five clear goals and they could have had many more.
Porto’s slim advantage, a 2-1 win courtesy of those awful Fabianski mistakes in Oporto - they seem like an age ago now - was quickly cancelled out by the wizardry of Andrei Arshavin. Twice he supplied Nicklas Bendtner with chances that even if the Dane had brought the same shooting boots which saw him fluff five sitters against Burnley couldn’t miss. Arshavin was in one of his finer moods, teasing the visitors with every foray. He did everything but score.
The tormentor for Porto was Samir Nasri, who after being so inconsistent all season scored one of the best goals the competition has seen this year and put the tie beyond Porto’s reach. He twisted and turned on the right wing and as one defender after another fell away, he suddenly found himself through on goal and clipped the ball into the far corner. Think Barnes in Brazil, but better.
Minutes later, Emmanuel Eboue - a kind of mood meter for the whole Arsenal team, when his tricks come off it usually means the whole team are doing a-ok - rounded the keeper on a breakaway attack and made it four. Bendtner staked a claim to being the man of the night by completing a hat-trick with an injury time penalty. His cruellest critics would say he notched this trio with two tap-ins and a spot kick, but the haul will surely do him the world of good in confidence. And that’s what Arsenal are all about at the moment, full of that confidence that they will always score at least one more than their opponents. Porto’s first leg lead seemed nothing more than a minor irritation.
So when will this bubble burst? Against Hull City on Saturday? It will be a kind of a hangover match from tonight's glamour. Back to old fashioned Premier League rough and tumble, it might just be a harder challenge than playing the Hulk and his toothless chums from Portugal. Until Arsenal truly crack beating English opposition, winning one of the big ones will still be an uphill task. A question for later - tonight we party.